THE LOSS OF ADAB 1. THE MEANING OF ADAB 1.1 Today adab has a restricted meaning, namely belles-lettres (bel-le-tr) and professional and social etiquette. 1.2 In its original and basic sense, adab means the invitation to a banquet which already implies therein the idea of a good and honourable social intercourse. In Ibn Mansur s authoritative Lisan al-arab, he introduced spiritual and intellectual meaning into its semantic field. There, the Quran is referred to as God s invitation to a banquet on earth (ma dabat Allah fi l-ard) Al-Attas refers to another hadith My Lord has instilled adab in me (addabani) and so made my education (ta dib) most excellent. 1.3 Al-Attas has thought that adab was conceptually fused with right knowledge (ilm) and proper and sincere action ( amal) and became significantly involved in the intelligent emulation of the Sunnah of the holy Prophet. Based on that he proposes his own definition thus: Adab is the recognition and acknowledgement of the reality that knowledge and being are ordered hierarchically according to their various grades and degrees of rank, and of one s proper place in relation to that reality and as in one s physical, intellectual and spiritual capacities and potentials. 1
By recognition, al-attas means to know again one s Primordial Covenant with the Lord (surat al-a raf, 7:172 - Balaa shahidnaa) and everything that follows from it. It means that matters and things are already in their proper places in the various orders of being and existence. But man, out or ignorance and arrogance, makes alterations and confuses the places of things such that injustice occurs. By acknowledgement, he means requisite action in conformity with what is recognized. It is affirmation, confirmation, realization and actualization in one s self of what is recognized. Recognition of knowledge means recognition of wisdom (hikmah), justice ( adl) reality and truth (haqq). Reality and Truth means the proper and right place of things and matter. 1.4 He gives examples of how the notion of adab is manifested in the various levels of human existence. Adab toward one s self starts when one acknowledges one s dual nature, namely the rational and the animal When the former subdues the latter and renders it under control, then one has put both of them in their proper places, thus placing one self in the right place doing justice to the self. Refering to human relationship, it means that ethical norms which are applied to social behaviour would follow certain requirements based on one s standing, say, in the 2
family and society, based on Quranic criteria of knowledge, intelligence and virtue. Referring to the domain knowledge, adab means an intellectual discipline which recognized and acknowledge the hierarchy of knowledge based on the criteria of degrees, of perfection and priority, such that the ones that are based on revelation are recognized and acknowledged as more perfect and of a higher priority than those based on the intellect.. 1.5 We can summarize the meaning of adab according to al-attas as involving the following: 1. action to discipline the mind and soul. 2. acquisition of good qualities and attributes of mind and soul 3. performance of correct and proper action as opposed to the erroneous and wrong ones. 4. knowledge that preserves man from errors of judgement and disgrace. 5. recognition and acknowledgement of right and proper places 6. a method of knowing by which a the conditions of being in the right and proper place in actualized 7. spectacle (mashhad) of justice ( adl) as it is reflected by wisdom (hikmah) 3
2. A MAN OF ADAB 2.1 According to Al-Attas, an educated man is a good man, and by good; he means possessing adab in the all inclusive sense.. encompassing the spiritual and material life of a man that instills the quality of goodness that is sought after He defines a truly educated man in Islam as man of adab (insane adabi). He writes:- A good man is the one who is sincerely conscious of his responsibilities towards the true God, who understands and fulfills his obligations to himself and others in his society with justice, who constantly strives to improve every aspect of himself towards perfection as men of adab (insan adabi.). 2.2 Education is thus the instilling and inculcation of adab in man it is ta dib. The Quran testifies that the Holy Prophet is the Ideal who is the best example of such a man, whom scholars have called the Perfect or Universal man (al-insan al-kulliyy). (We are not discussing the difference in meaning of Ta dib, Tarbiyah and Ta lim. According to Al-Attas, Ta dib already includes within its conceptual structure the elements of ilm (ta lim), and good breeding tarbiyah.) 3. MAN AND SOCIETY 3.1 A society consists of individuals. The education of a society cannot happen unless sufficient individuals are educated. When we say that the purpose of knowledge is to produce a good man, it implies to produce a good society, because society is composed of people. It means making everyone or most of them good, thus produces a good society. Education is therefore the fabric of a society. 4
3.2 Insan adabi is defined as : An individual who is fully conscious of his individuality and of his proper relationship with himself, his Creator, his society and other visible and invisible creatures of God. A good individual or a good man must naturally be a good servant of his Lord and Creator, good father, a good husband, a good son, a good neighbour and a good citizen 3.3 He must know this place in the human order, which must be understood as arranged hierarchically and legitimately into various degrees of excellence based on the Quranic criteria of intelligence, knowledge and virtues and must act concomitantly with the knowledge in a positive, commendable and praiseworthy manner. 3.4 A good Muslim must perform his responsibility to his family and the rest of society. He must internalized and adhere to the Articles of Faith and the Tenet of Islam and be a person of Taqwa. This means that the integration of spiritual and ethical qualities is the highest end of the meaning of a good man and of citizenship. 4. LOSS OF ADAB 4.1 According to Al-Attas, educational, intellectual and civilizational problems are due to external and internal causes. External: caused by religio-cultural and socio-political challenges from the western culture and civilization. Internal: manifested in the interrelated phenomena 1. confusion and error in the meaning and application of knowledge (kekeliruan serta kesilapan mengenai faham ilmu) 5
2. The loss of adab (keruntuhan adab) 3. The rise of unqualified and false leaders ( yang tidak layak memikul tanggungjawab kepimpinan yang sah) in all fields Loss of Adab must be effectively checked first and corrected. Knowledge cannot be taught or inculcated in the learner unless he shows proper adab towards knowledge. 4.2 The disintegration of adab in spiritual, intellectual and cultural matters is through the attitude and processing of levelling. Quran is regarded as any other book Islam is thought to be the same as other religions Prophet Muhammed s a w, is placed on the same level as other prophets. Knowledge of religion is regarded as same as other sciences or even lower. (Eg: economics more important that the spiritual and ethical development of the person) Life in this world is regarded as the same as the hereafter. 4.3 Since Adab in an integral part of wisdom and justice, loss of adab would entail the prevalence of injustice, stupidity and even madness. Injustice: Things not in their right places 6
Stupidity: Wrong method applied to arrive at right goals al-ghazali Madness: Struggle to attain wrong or false aim or goals 4.4 Seek knowledge is to attain happiness or the love of God (mahabbah) according to the dictates of the true religion and the attainment of His vision (ru yatullah) in the Hereafter. Other than that is madness. It is stupidity to attain happiness in the world and hereafter without the right kind of knowledge and practice. Loss of Adab will enhance the rise of wrong philosophies, and undermine the educational and moral fabric of society. Adab instills or inculcates sense or order and discipline in the mind which will be reflected in the personal, social and cultural behaviour and phenomena. 4.5 In 1581, 3 centuries before the abolition of Ottoman Caliphate in 1924, Mustapha Ali wrote what he observed, the prevailing injustice and the appointment of unqualified and unethical people to important posts. 4.6 In the Malay world, Abdullah Munshi described the cultural condition of Malacca thus: Grasshoppers became eagles, bed-lice became tortoise, and worms were transformed into dragons.. Even the base and stupid can become intelligent and noble if he is wealthy; but 7
the unwealthy is regarded as base intelligent and noble. even if he is (truly) 4.7 The pervasive confusion resulting from loss of adab means corruption of knowledge and incapacity to recognize true leaders in all fields. This gives way to the rise of false and unqualified leaders. And they determine matters of knowledge or even religion. 4.8 The conception of education and the inculcation of adab (ta dib) seeks to produce a truly educated Muslim who is certain of his identity, sincere, moderate, courageous and just in the fulfillment of his duties towards various realities and matters, according to an understood hierarchical order of priorities. 4.9 It is true that the world is functioning for like a global village. Important projects, be it economic, political, cultural or educational are becoming increasingly international. Nations have become borderless. The few and powerful can influence the whole world. False leaders with self interest will only profit themselves. Political and economic doctrines based on false premises will destroy the life of millions of people. Thus the need for good men and women of adab. They would be able or at least be in a better position to solve the problems. The urgency of this educational idea and program is paramount because, despite the unprecedented technological, medical and economic progress that modern 8
man has achieved, he has not been able to significantly and meaningfully increase the level of moral and ethical attainment, justice and happiness of many people. 4.10 A person of adab, who practices right adab in himself, his family, community and world can deal successfully with a plural universe without losing his identity. This implies that planning, content, and methods or education should be reflect a strong and consistent emphasis on the right adab towards the various as orders of realities. A new educational system must be formulated and implemented beginning from the universities and then to the schools. (extracts taken from The Educational Philosophy and Practice of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas An exposition of the original concept of Islamization, by Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud, ISTAC, KL 1998). 9